With nobody in the mood to raise gas taxes at a time when the cost of a tank of gas rivals that of a mortgage payment, Fischer doggedly pursued a compromise to make sure the federal funds did not slither helplessly through the cracks. The State Roads department, an out-of-touch bureaucracy that doesn't understand the meaning of economic development, could have cared less a situation which the governor will need to address soon.

Fischer's compromise consists of no gas tax hikes, but rather a $15 million infusion of cash from the state reserves spread over three years. Fischer rightfully insists that this is not part of a trend of dipping into the cash reserves to fund the needs of Nebraska's road repair and maintenance projects. She has promised that she will be back in the next session with recommendations to deal with the issue. With federal funding for roads withering over time, it is imperative that the state find a way to deal with its road issues. Historically, the legislature has demanded that user fees (fuel taxes and other motor vehicle fees) be the sole source of road revenue.

Fischer's bill also provides an entirely new method of funding roads applying a portion of the state's gas tax to the wholesale price of fuel. This means that 5 percent of the wholesale price would be adjusted twice a year and would change as fuel prices go up and down. Of course, the consumer ends up with that added to the pump price.

Roads are an emotional and sensitive issue to Nebraskans, especially in the central and western regions of the state, where hours of windshield time are often required for business and leisure needs. Adequate funding of the roads is one more issue to be dumped onto the plate of legislators in future sessions.